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But given that the competition (nVidia) doesn't require work arounds just to watch tear free video I still think AMD need to keep working before I'm going to be impressed in any way.

I'm sitting here now with a lowly 9800gt running two 24" Acer LCDs. The one on the left is currently streaming TWiT episode 251 via SMPlayer in a window (not maximised, but works just as well full screen) tear free while at the same time running Blender across the two screens and about a million other apps. No fiddling required. Just works. Starting a VLC window plays back tear free at the same time, and again, no fiddling or settings changed.

All with Compiz enabled. In fact there's absolutely no feeling that Compiz is waying down the system in anyway. Just the way it should be.

These days you shouldn't have to be worrying about work arounds just to get video playback the way it's meant to be. When looking at the way fglrx is moving along I'm fairly sure it'll be in a fit state 'real soon now'tm but I totally understand anyone who wants to label fglrx as amateur hour because when compared to the competition, it currently looks like it is.

Hey fanboi! nVidia drivers actually fucking work while AMD's are an amateur nightmare and closed source. Thier OSS drivers are half-baked and nothing more than a political ploy for the OSS zealots and will be nothing more than that, ever.

Who is suggesting that nVidia is more open than AMD?

Not me, that's for sure.

But I am suggesting that nVidia's blob is better than fglrx at the moment.

Perhaps you should start a thread along the lines of "Who's the more open source friendly? AMD or nVidia"

Who's open and who's blob is the best. Two completely different issues.

Trust me nvidia is not doing that well for a while now either. With the last year or so of driver updates my system has gotten slower. The most recent drivers seem to have some kind of issue with xinerama also where the mouse gets stuck between screens even if all the screens are set as RightOf.

I am waiting for the fglrx to support eyefinity on their eyefinity 6 cards so I can get rid of the nvidia cards. I have a two card system running 4 monitors.

So just because nvidia is working for you and fglrx is not does not mean that one driver is better then another. You just may not have one of the setups that causes so many problems with one or another.

I definitely want to get off of xinerama and eyefinity seems to be the best option for that.

- No tear on video: Maybe, but U have the gl alternative using mplayer.

- No plp complaining on an ati linux support forum: No way, there will be always plp complainig, sometimes someone new to linux or new to ati hardware, and sometimes real problems too. Anyway, why do you not read more to the more experienced ati linux users before always reading about others problems.

And please, meanwhile you are waiting your fears for ati disappears, stop bashing fglrx. Users who post on this forum are looking for ati users advice , and not for "future ati users with fears" advise.

Trust me nvidia is not doing that well for a while now either. With the last year or so of driver updates my system has gotten slower. The most recent drivers seem to have some kind of issue with xinerama also where the mouse gets stuck between screens even if all the screens are set as RightOf.

And avoiding Xinerama is the biggest reason I want an ATI card.

Originally Posted by koshcu

I am waiting for the fglrx to support eyefinity on their eyefinity 6 cards so I can get rid of the nvidia cards. I have a two card system running 4 monitors.

When using two cards avoiding Xinerama means you can use the same keyboard/mouse on both cards but can't move windows from one card to the other. A complete pain. It's a pain I personally may have to endure though depending on what happens with fglrx in the near future.

Originally Posted by koshcu

So just because nvidia is working for you and fglrx is not does not mean that one driver is better then another.

Doesn't the ratio of good experience to bad have any relevance here?

If it's more common to have issues with fglrx than with nVidia's blob then I think that's pretty important to note.

When it comes to Xinerama there's nothing wrong with saying either nVidia's blob or fglrx will provide a less than perfect experience with it. But if Xinerama's broken in some way then no-ones driver's going to be very happy with it. The xorg guys do work on Xinerama but I'm not sure if providing compatibility with a compositor amongst other things is on their radar at the moment.

Originally Posted by koshcu

You just may not have one of the setups that causes so many problems with one or another.

I have had a setup that exposes this weakness in xorg.

Eyefinity does provide a path for completely avoiding it though and is the single biggest reason for me wanting an AMD card.

Originally Posted by koshcu

I definitely want to get off of xinerama and eyefinity seems to be the best option for that.

nVidia may rule here but if fglrx and wine run the software I personally need to run that I'm happy.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

- No tear on video: Maybe, but U have the gl alternative using mplayer.

Again, I believe AMD are going to address this in the future.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

- No plp complaining on an ati linux support forum:

All vendors have people complaining on support forums.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

No way, there will be always plp complainig, sometimes someone new to linux or new to ati hardware, and sometimes real problems too. Anyway, why do you not read more to the more experienced ati linux users before always reading about others problems.

I do recognise the difference between a driver issue and misconfiguration. I wouldn't be happy to have to hand hold fglrx from a configuration perspective but if it provides a better alternative than nVidia once setup properly then that's something I consider somewhat worthwhile.

If fglrx works really well but is a pain to setup that's one thing.

If once setup in the most perfect way and it still has issues, then that's a completely different kettle of fish.

And please, meanwhile you are waiting your fears for ati disappears, stop bashing fglrx. Users who post on this forum are looking for ati users advice , and not for "future ati users with fears" advise.

I'm not bashing fglrx.

If however you don't want to hear about fglrx's weaknesses then I can understand you wanting anyone with anything bad to say about it to leave.

Both nVidias blob and fglrx have weaknesses. This is a forum about Linux and graphics and stuff. I would think a broad discussion of the issues when running Linux on PC hardware is warranted. If you want a sanitised discussion then maybe amdfanboi.com is a better place for you.